Knitting-machine



J. BRADLEY. KNITTING MACHINE.

(K0 Model.)

Patented Mar. 29, 1898.

JOHN BRADLEY, OF OHELMSFORD, MASSACHUSETTS.

KNITTING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 601 ,548, dated March 29, 1898.

Application filed July 16,1896. Serial No. 599,381. (No moclelJ To all whom i2; may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN BRADLEY, of Chelmsford, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful'lmprovements in Knitting- Machines, of which the following is a specification.

' This invention has relation to knitting-machines having spring-beard needles and of the class for knitting a fabric having, in addition to the warp and weft threads, a third thread formed into a knitted stitch.

The object of the invention is to provide means for properly guiding the weft-thread to the needles and the knitting-wheel; and it consists of a rotatable device having a portion engaging the weft-thread in such way as to guide it on the outside of the row of needles; and the invention also consists in a wheel for guiding the weftthread, said wheel being journaled so as to have a portion to engage the weft-thread and lay it properly upon the needles of the machine, all as I shall hereinafter describe with particularity, and set forth in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forminga part of this specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, the same reference characters indicating the same or similar parts or features, as the case may be, wherever they occur.

Of the drawings, Figure 1 illustrates a portion of 'a knitting-machine equipped with my improvements. Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side elevation, somewhat enlarged, illustrating the form of wheel which I prefer to employ for laying the weftthread on and over the needles. Fig. 4 shows, enlarged, a portion of the fabric, one of the needles, and a portion of the weft-thread-laying wheel.

The spring-beard needles are indicated by a, and the bobbins for the warp-thread by b.

As my invention relates only to the weftthread-laying device, I have not illustrated any of the other parts of the machine, and hence they may be of any approved pattern and kind.

J ournaled in a support (1 outside of the needles to is a rotatable wheel 6, arranged at an acute angle relatively to the needles a and having its edge in contact with said needles.

needles as they move past the wheel.

9 is a guide through which the weft-thread his fed, the latter extending from an aperture 11 in the said guide to the point of contact of the wheel and needles, so as to lie in the groove or recess formed by the same. The thread j, which forms the knitted stitch, is illustrated as being on the needles in Fig. 3, the warp-threads being illustrated in section.- When the needles revolve and move past the rotatable wheel e, the thread is carried around and lies closely against the knitted stitch and over the tops of the needles, so as to be knitted into the fabric by the knitting- Wheel. (Not shown.)

In Fig. 4 I. have illustrated the position of the thread h when it lies between the wheel 6 and the needle a. I do not limit myself to this particular location of the wheel 6 nor to the exact construction of the same, the essential feature of my invention being the'movable support arranged to lay and hold the weft-thread over the tops of the needles.

By means of a device of this character the thread may be supported during the time that it is passing from the guide until it is laid upon the needles. It frequently happens that unless a support of this kind for the thread be employed the thread will drop away from the needles or will not be guided properly to the same, so as to be knitted into the fabric by the knitting -wheel. The eye through which the thread passes must perforce be slightly lower than the needles, so that the tendency of the thread is to drop off from the same, especially when there is a knot in it, which, catchingin the guide, causesa momentary stretching or tightening of the thread, thereby allowing the latter to drop from the needles when it contracts. Therefore by employing my device the thread is not allowed to slip and is continuously carried to the needles and supported until it is properly laid upon the same.

Having thus explained the nature of my invention and described a way of constructing and using the same, although without attempting to set forth all the ways in which it may be made or all the modes of its use, I declare that what I claim is- 1. A Weft-thread-laying device for a knitting-machine, having spring-beard needles, consisting of a rotatable device located in proximity to the tops of the needles, and arranged to coact with the needles in laying and holding the weft-thread on the tops thereof.

2. A weft-thread-laying device for a knitting-machine, having spring-beard needles, consisting of a wheel engaging the needles at the tops thereof, and arranged to lay and hold the threads upon the tops of the same.

3. A Weft-thread-laying devicefor a knitting-machine, having spring-beard needles consisting of a rotatable Wheel having its periphery extending into position to coact with the needles in laying and holding the weftthread over the tops of the needles.

4:. A Weft-thread-laying device for a knitting-machine, having spring-beard needles consisting of a rotatable Wheel journaled in a support outside of the needles, and lying in a plane at an acute angle to the horizontal plane of the needles, said Wheel having in its periphery notches to receive the needles and coacting with the needles in laying and holding the weft-thread over the tops of thelatter.

5. The combination in a knitting-machine having spring -beard needles with a weftthread guide, of a Wheel arranged to receive the Weft-thread from said guide and lay it over the tops of the needles.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 13th day of July, A. D. 1896.

JOHN BRADLEY.

Witnesses:

A. D. HARRISON, P. W. PEZZETTI. 

